November 12th Forum Will Highlight the Voices of DC TANF Families

Some 16,000 DC families — including one in three children in the city — rely on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) for cash assistance, job readiness training, and support services. A successful TANF program is critical to DC’s future. Yet too often, DC’s TANF families say they do not get the support they need to move from welfare to work.

A new report on DC’s TANF program by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and SOME, Inc (So Others Might Eat) will be released at a forum on Thursday, November 12, from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. (Light refreshments will be available starting at 9:00.)

The new report, Voices for Change: Perspectives on Strengthening Welfare-to-Work from DC TANF Recipients, is based on focus groups with DC TANF families. Attendees will learn directly from low-income families — most of them headed by women — about what they need to address barriers to becoming employed. The report focuses on three areas:

The limited access to meaningful employment services for TANF recipients.

Problems in assessing and referring TANF parents to supportive services such as domestic violence and substance abuse.

The inadequacy of DC’s cash assistance benefits to enable families to meet even basic needs.

The forum will feature a video of DC TANF recipients discussing their experiences with the program and a Q&A with a panel including:

Washington Area Women's Foundation mobilizes our community to ensure that economically
vulnerable women and girls in the Washington region have the resources they need to thrive. Since
1998, the Women's Foundation has worked to transform the lives of women and girls in the Washington
region and the world.